Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033

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Current Research in Behavioral Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/crbeha

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on tourism: transformational potential

and implications for a sustainable recovery of the travel and leisure
industry
Jaffar Abbas a,∗, Riaqa Mubeen b, Paul Terhemba Iorember c, Saqlain Raza d,
Gulnara Mamirkulova b
a
Antai College of Economics and Management (ACM), and School of Media and Communication (SMC), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) - No. 800 Dongchuan
Road, Minhang District, Postcode 200240 Shanghai, China
b
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), No. 92 West Dazhi Street, Nangang District, Postcode 150001 Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
c
Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
d
Faculty of Management Sciences, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Karachi, Pakistan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: The study stipulates phases to observe the proposed mechanism in formulating the travel and leisure industry’s
Travel risks, COVID-19 impacts recovery strategies. The present pandemic COVID-19 has resulted in global challenges, economic and healthcare
Sustainability, Mental health crises, and posed spillover impacts on the global industries, including tourism and travel that the major contribu-
Economic crisis
tor to the service industry worldwide. The tourism and leisure industry has faced the COVID-19 tourism impacts
hardest-hit and lies among the most damaged global industries. The leisure and internal tourism indicated a steep
decline amounting to 2.86 trillion US dollars, which quantified more than 50% revenue losses. In the first step,
the study explores the consequences and settings of the COVID-19 pandemic and how innovation and change
can contribute to the tourism industry’s revival to the next normal. Thus, the study determines that tourism
enterprises and scholars must consider and change the basic principles, main assumptions, and organizational
situations related to research and practice framework through rebuilding and establishing the tourism sector.
In the second step, the study discusses direct COVID-19 tourism impacts, attitudes, and practices in gaining the
leisure industry’s boom and recovery. In the third phase, the study proposes to observe the characteristics and
COVID-19 tourism consequences on the travel and tourism research. The findings provide insights in regaining
the tourism industry’s operational activities and offer helpful suggestions to government officials, scholars, and
tourism firms to reinvest in the tourism industry to set it back to a normal position.

1. Introduction
The appearance of the lethal disease COVID-19 has resulted in mas-
sive financial losses and caused global health and economic crises world-
wide (Anderson et al., 2020; McKenna and Bargh, 1998; Brewer, 2016).
The most frightening news of the seasonal influenza outbreaks, epi-
demics, pandemics, and catastrophes results in a steep decrease in
the travel and tourism industry, a dominant contributor to the ser-
vice industry (Abbas, 2021; Jones et al., 2015; Avery, 2010). The pan-
demics adversely impact tourists’ behaviors and their mental wellbe-
ing (Aman et al., 2019; Bauer et al., 2021; Park et al., 2019). As a re-
sult, they drop their planned tour plans in fear of the disease infection,
as it looks impossible to avoid transmission of the virus during travel
(Mamirkulova et al., 2020; Avery, 2017; Meadows et al., 2019). Be-
sides, tourists travel increases infection risk to other air passengers in
the absence of effective vaccines (Su et al., 2021; Hu and Zhang, 2014;
Reynolds and W.S., 2005; Tonsaker et al., 2014). Travelers play a signif-
icant role in transferring viruses, epidemics’, outbreaks, or pandemics
between local communities’ destinations (Hollingsworth et al., 2006;
Abbott, 2021; Zhong et al., 2021; Li et al., 2018). At present, the
entire world is facing crisis communication in the media (Su et al.,
2021). The adverse consequences of the COVID-19 on the travel and
leisure industry resulted in novel viral disease appurtenance (Su et al.,
2020). Infectious viruses are highly contagious, mutate rapidly and in-
crease mortality (Local Burden of Disease, H.I.V.C. 2021). As a result,
novel viruses spread and cause unexpected epidemics or pandemics at

∗
Corresponding author. Antai College of Economics and Management (ACEM), & School of Media and Communication (SMC), Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
200240, Shanghai, CHINA.
E-mail address: dr.abbas.jaffar@outlook.com (J. Abbas).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2021.100033
Received 17 February 2021; Received in revised form 22 March 2021; Accepted 25 March 2021
2666-5182/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al.
any time (NeJhaddadgar et al., 2020, Abbas, 2020, Maqsood et al.,
2021). Contagious agents usually communicate from animals to hu-
mans, which has affected nurses’ work-related life quality (Halimi et al.,
2019; Bergquist et al., 2020; Firouraghi et al., 2020; Lebni et al., 2020).
Birds were the cause of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
virus transmission to humans in 2002 (Shuja et al., 2020). The pan-
demic has caused a negative impact on patients with chronic diseases
(Kiani et al., 2013). The camel flu virus, the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) virus, was identified in 2012, and camels were the
MERS disease source and infected humans (Al-Tawfiq et al., 2014).
Infected people spread the virus and pass it to others in their close
contacts through droplets, cough, and smear contaminations (Cliff and
Haggett, 2004; MacIntyre, 2020). The earlier study identified that travel
restrictions are the most helpful and effective interventions in the early
and late phases of infectious disease to minimize its spread and con-
trol transmission rate in communities (Kallbekken and Sælen, 2021;
Ioannides and Gyimóthy, 2020; Gössling et al., 2020; Lei et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 viral disease caused the coronavirus 2019 pandemic
instigated by a fatal infection (SARS-CoV-2) (Aqeel et al., 2020). The
health experts first identified this virus in Wuhan, China, in late De-
cember 2019. The WHO declared an outbreak of the COVID-19 a public
health emergency of international concern in January and a global pan-
demic in March 2020. As of March 15, 2021, this pandemic has infected
more than 119 million people, of which more than 2.66 million indi-
viduals have died from the lethal infectious disease (Lange, 2021). It
has made this fatal virus one of the deadliest pandemics in human his-
tory. Symptoms of the coronavirus virus infection vary widely, from non
to most lethal and life-threatening diseases (Abbas et al., 2021). When
people approach each other, the virus is mainly transmitted through
the air. It leaves the infected person breathing, coughing, sneezing, or
talking and entering another person through their mouth, nose, or eyes.
It can also spread through contaminated surfaces. Individuals remain
infected from the virus for up to two weeks and may spread the virus
even if there are no symptoms among infected people (Anjum et al.,
2017; Monmousseau et al., 2020; Rather, 2021).
2. Travel and tourism a significant contributor to the global
service industry
Globally, travel and tourism are the significant contributors to a
leading sector for job creation, socio-economic and cultural develop-
ment worldwide (McCabe and Qiao, 2020). In many cities, regions, and
countries, tourism plays a critical role as a strategic pillar of the econ-
omy’s GDP. The tourism and leisure industry plays a vital role in eco-
nomic activities and customer satisfaction, but it has also become the
most vulnerable industry member (Ma et al., 2020). This industry al-
ways experiences the hardiest-hits of various diseases, epidemics, sea-
sonal influenza, and global pandemics. The tourism industry encoun-
ters the massive adverse consequences of the "black swan" major cri-
sis events, including the global financial crunch in 1997 and 2008, the
SARS epidemic in 2003, various social unrests, and earthquakes (Lee and
Chen, 2021). The emergence of the deadliest viral disease has affected
all economic sectors and overwhelmed tourists and customers’ satisfac-
tion. Economic activities and business services are contingent on ex-
pert forecasts that are based on traditional methods. It could be out-
dated and ineffective to handle global crisis events (Yu et al., 2020;
Wang, 2009; Page et al., 2011). Accurate forecasting methods for the
academic world and business operations need the needful response to
the COVID-19 impacts. Since late December 2019, the advent of the
present pandemic COVID-19 has developed unprecedented global health
crises, social emergencies, and profound adverse consequences on the
global economy. The current pandemic COVID-19 has resulted in global
challenges, renewable energy, carbon emission, economic and health-
care crises, and posed spillover impacts on the global industries, includ-
ing tourism and travel that the major contributor to the service indus-
try worldwide (Lepp and Gibson, 2003; Im et al., 2021; Abbasi et al.,
2
Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033
2021; Abbasi et al., 2021a,b). It has massively affected the business
firms’ sustainable performance, and the CEO role became critical to take
innovative decisions to revive economic gains (Mubeen et al., 2020).
Social media platforms have provided information to various stake-
holders in the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic (Abbas et al., 2019;
Lin and Kishore, 2021; Lebni et al., 2020). The tourism and leisure in-
dustry have experienced COVID-19 tourism impacts the most hardest-
hits. This industry falls among the most vulnerable industries world-
wide. The leisure, travel, and inbound tourism activities designated a
steeper drop causing 2.86 trillion US dollars losses that made up 50%
plus loss in revenues. In the first stage, this research study discovers the
significance and settings of the current pandemic COVID-19 (Wut et al.,
2021). The study explores how innovation and change might contribute
to the tourism and leisure industry’s revitalization to the next normal
(Cuomo et al., 2021).
3. International tourism: regions contribution to the service
industry
Europe region is the sole major contributor to the global travel and
tourism industry. EU tourism presents one trip out of two by making
up a 50% share of worldwide tourism (Naslund et al., 2016). Tourism
in European countries makes up nearly 48% of the entire outbound
travel and tourism activities globally (Boluk et al., 2019). The leisure
industry is one of the main components of the global service industry
(Iorember et al., 2021). Travel and tourism provide a substantial con-
tribution to business operations and ultimately contribute to the world-
wide economy. The travel and tourism sector is an economic driver to
the destination country’s local GPD (Wondirad et al., 2021). See Fig. 1
about DACH countries.
The estimations based on 2018–2020 data on the travel and tourism
industry of the DACH states showed a 5.1 trillion dollar contribution to
their GDP. In 2019, the tourism industry contributed to Austria’s GDP
remained 446.31 billion dollars, Germany 3780.55 billion dollars, and
Switzerland 704.83 billion dollars. Similarly, in 202, the tourism indus-
try contributed to the Austrian G.D.P. amounted 432.89 billion dollars,
Germany 3780.55 billion dollars, and Switzerland 707.87 billion dol-
lars (UNWTO, W. 2019). The region of DAH in Europe consists of Ger-
many, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2019, Fig. 1 indicates DACH nations
GDP amounted to almost 3.86 trillion US dollars. Germany remained
the largest and most significant contributor with approximately 5.01
trillion US dollars. The acronym DACH refers to Germany (D), Austria,
Switzerland (CH), represents these three neighboring countries. These
nations make the most significant community, and German presents as
the de-facto national first and official language of most of the popula-
tion. These three nations collectively represent the highest human devel-
opment standards indicated in social and economic dimensions. The ser-
vice industry’s contribution to Austria’s GDP remained 62.50%, whereas
Germany’s service industry significantly contributed 61.80% to its GDP.
In terms of percentage, the service industry contributed 71.4% to GDP
in Austria. There were almost 135 million travelers in 2018 to the DACH
Germany remained the third-major spender on a truism, amounting to
94 billion US dollars. European countries region is a global travel and
tourism industry with 600 million tourists arriving in Europe each year
(Neuburger and Egger, 2020; Daye et al., 2019). See Fig. 2.
The tourism and leisure industry’s growth rate accelerated in the
2010s due to many countries’ active mobility and participation. Be-
sides, China and the United States are two key market players besides
intra-European countries tourism that have primarily contributed to the
growth in travel and tourism. The increase in tourist numbers has caused
some challenges, and numerous destinations attempted to find sustain-
able paths in coping with travelers’ high intensity. Regardless, the travel
and tourism industry has developed positive impacts and a significant
contributor to the European economy. It directly contributed approxi-
mately 782 billion euros to the EU economy in 2018 and created 14.4
jobs. The statistics indicated the growing number of international tourist
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033

Fig. 1. DACH countries GDP: The gross domestic product (GDP) from 2010 to 2020
Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Fig. 2. Europe hosted the largest arrivals of international tourist

Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

arrivals from 2010 to 2019 worldwide. The statistics of 2019 stipulated
that there were 146.4 million arrivals of international tourists in North
America and 61.4 million in the Middle Eastern countries. The appear-
ances of international tourists showed a year-on-year increase between
2010 and 2019. Europe was one of the major destinations for interna-
tional travelers in terms of region of origin. The European region ac-
counts for more than 50% of international tourist arrival worldwide,
and it is the most visited region globally, according to UNWTO. The
travel and tourism industry has become a key driver of cultural and
socio-economic progress, and it creates millions of employment oppor-
tunities within the travel industry.
In 2019, estimations documented that travel and tourism remained
a significant contributor to the world economy. It contributed growth of
9.3 trillion US dollars to the global economy, with a direct contribution
of 2.9 trillion US dollars. On the other hand, the travel and tourism in-
dustry has faced the hardest-hit of the COVID-19 outbreak and showed
a 98% sharp decline in May 2020, which reflected travel bans and re-
strictions worldwide, amid preventive measures for containing the quick
transmission of the pandemic. According to the data information re-
ported by destinations, there was a drastic decline of 56% in arrivals of
global tourists in the first five months of 2020 compared to 2019 data
for the same period. There were 300 million decreased arrivals of global
tourists From January to May 2020 compared to 2019 for the same time.
It reported a 320 billion dollars loss in terms of international tourism
receipts based on export revenue, more than 300% less than the eco-
nomic crisis impacts in 2009. Asia and the Pacific region were the first

3
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al.
Fig. 3. Global tourists’ destinations by regions indicating international arrivals worldwide
Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
to suffer and recorded a steep 60% drop in arrivals from January to
May 2020. The current pandemic’s appearance has resulted in a global
economic and health crisis and posed unprecedented disruptions to the
world economy’s leading sectors. See Figure 3 on destinations of inter-
national tourists.
Tourism as a critical sector to local and national socio-economic de-
velopment relies heavily on energy use. Any rise in the number of tourist
arrivals requires an increase in energy demand to support the change
(Iorember et al., 2020). In turn, coupled with the associated increase
in travel due to increased tourism, it has some consequences on envi-
ronmental sustainability (Usman et al., 2019; Iorember et al., 2019).
The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted
economic activities globally, constitutes a significant shock to tourism
development globally and in the sub-region (Jelilov et al., 2020). In the
wake of global economic recovery evidenced by the loosening of lock-
downs and commencement of complete internal air travels, there is a
need for concerted policies that would increase tourist arrivals, broaden
clean energy use and ensure economic and environmental sustainabil-
ity (Usman et al., 2019). The pandemic has affected energy consump-
tion patterns and impacted globalization and tourism to rethink innova-
tion for sustainable recovery strategies (Usman et al., 2020). The pan-
demic has influenced stock markets and caused inflation (Goshit et al.,
2020; Dabwor et al., 2020). The pandemic has also effected govern-
ments budgets for agricultural expenditures on household welfare plans
(Iorember and Jelilov, 2018). The travel and tourism industry in Europe
was the second-highest affected sector and recorded 58% fewer arrivals,
followed by the Middle Eastern countries with a 51% decline. In com-
parison, Africa and the Americas both reported a 47% decline in tourist
arrivals at the same time. Travel and tourism research scholars typically
concentrate on exploring the impacts of perceived socio-economic and
cultural factors fundamental contributions towards destinations resi-
dents (Mamirkulova et al., 2020; Lindberg and Johnson, 1997; Joo et al.,
2021). Inbound travel and tourism activities profoundly impact commu-
nities with their positive effects on the arrivals of international tourists’
interfere with residents of destinations societies’ social, cultural, and
socio-economic growth and prosperity (Jordan et al., 2021). The virus’s
outbreak has impacted travel and tourism activities and caused a global
travel collapse since mid-March 2020. The arrivals of international
tourists showed a sharp decline of 56% from January to May, and a
97% drop in April and a 98% arrivals dropped in May 2020. See Fig. 4
for arrivals of global tourists.
4
Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033
4. Global health crisis, social stigma, and mental health
The disease outbreaks and pandemics cause global health and eco-
nomic crises. Pandemics adversely increase mental heal issues and affect
tourists’ behavior and their mental wellbeing (Aman et al., 2019). In fear
of the risks, tourists cancel their planned travel plans as it looks chal-
lenging to avoid virus infection during travel time (Mamirkulova et al.,
2020). See Fig. 5 on global tourist visits.
Tourists and air passengers lead to the risks of virus transmission
among communities. It is a lethal disease in the absence of effective
vaccines (Su et al., 2021). Air passengers and tourists play a leading
role in spreading viruses of pandemics between communities’ destina-
tions. The WHO declared an outbreak of the COVID-19 a public health
emergency of international concern in January and a global pandemic
in March 2020. As of March 15, 2021, this pandemic has infected more
than 119 million people, of which more than 2.66 million individuals
have died from the lethal infectious disease (Lange, 2021). It has made
this fatal virus one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. The
global seasonal influenza outbreaks and pandemic cause adverse conse-
quences on inbound tourism activities during the epidemics crisis, such
as COVID-19, SARS, MERS, and ZIKA that developed fears among tourist
destination residents (Tambo et al., 2021; McKercher and Chon, 2004;
Sarkar et al., 2021). The world has encountered health and economic
crisis with the advent of the pandemic COVID-19 that has adversely af-
fected more than 200 territories and countries worldwide (Lange, 2021;
Agarwal et al., 2021; Acter et al., 2020). See Table 1 for detailed infor-
mation.
Table 1 reflects confirmed cases of the pandemic COVID-19 and mor-
tality by the most affected country, as of March 15, 2021, worldwide.
The WHO’s statistics show that the USA is still dealing with the highest
number of confirmed cases, 29,495,424, and a death toll of 535,628.
The rate of case-fatality rate is 1.80%. Brazil remains the second most
victim country from the infection of this fatal disease of the COVID-
19 virus. They reported 11,519,609, with total deaths 279,286, a case
fatality rate of 2.4%. The United Kingdom reported confirmed positive
infected cases 4,276,840, with a death toll of 125,817 and a case fatality
rate of 2.9%.
Table 2 reports on the countries with the highest number of deaths
due to the infection of the COVID-19, totally confirmed cases, and a case
and mortality ratio by most affected countries with the COVID-19 pa-
tients, as of March 15, 2021. The World Health Organization announced
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033

Fig. 4. Global tourists’ arrivals by months from January to December during 2017-2020.
Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Fig. 5. By regions: International tourist arrivals from 2010-2019 worldwide

Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

that the United States of America is still the most affected nation with
the highest death toll. The US reported confirmed cases, 29,495,424, to-
tal deaths 535,628, and a case-fatality rate of 1.80%. Brazil remains the
second most affected country in terms of a total death toll of 279,286,
actual confirmed patients 11,519,609, a case fatality rate of 2.40%. Mex-
ico is the third-highest death toll country and reported 2,167,729 real
cases, with a death toll of 194,944 and a case fatality ratio of 9.00%.
See Table 2.
Table 2 shows that India is also one of the most affected states
with the highest recorded deaths due to the COVID-19 attack. There
were 11,409,831 positive cases, with a death toll of 158,856 and a
case-fatality rate of 1.40%. The United Kingdom declared 4,276,840

5
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033

Table 1
COVID-19: Confirmed cases and mortality by the most affected nations as of March 15, 2021.

Country Confirm cases Deaths Case-fatality Deaths/100k Pop.

United States 29,495,424 535,628 1.8% 163.72

Brazil 11,519,609 279,286 2.4% 133.33
India 11,409,831 158,856 1.4% 11.74
Russia 4,350,728 90,958 2.1% 62.96
United Kingdom 4,276,840 125,817 2.9% 189.23
France 4,132,104 90,924 2.2% 135.73
Italy 3,238,394 102,499 3.2% 169.61
Spain 3,195,062 72,424 2.3% 155.00
Turkey 2,894,893 29,552 1.0% 35.90
Germany 2,585,385 73,701 2.9% 88.87
Colombia 2,305,884 61,243 2.7% 123.35
Argentina 2,201,886 53,836 2.4% 120.99
Mexico 2,167,729 194,944 9.0% 154.48
Poland 1,917,527 47,206 2.5% 124.30
Iran 1,754,933 61,330 3.5% 74.98
South Africa 1,530,033 51,421 3.4% 89.00
Ukraine 1,516,865 29,969 2.0% 67.16
Indonesia 1,425,044 38,573 2.7% 14.41
Peru 1,412,406 49,003 3.5% 153.19
Czechia 1,402,420 23,379 1.7% 220.02
Netherlands 1,178,501 16,218 1.4% 94.12
Canada 918,406 22,484 2.4% 60.67
Chile 896,231 21,772 2.4% 116.25
Romania 862,681 21,565 2.5% 110.74
Israel 820,913 6030 0.7% 67.88
Portugal 814,513 16,694 2.0% 162.37
Belgium 809,861 22,545 2.8% 197.38
Iraq 763,085 13,788 1.8% 35.87
Sweden 712,527 13,146 1.8% 129.10
Philippines 626,893 12,837 2.0% 12.04
Pakistan 609,964 13,595 2.2% 6.41

Source: John Hopkins University CSSE COVID-19 Data https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

infected patients of the coronavirus, death toll 125,817, with a case

Table 2 fatality rate of 2.9%. Italy reported total cases 3,238,394, with death
COVID-19: Cases and mortality (Deaths) by the most affected states, as of March numbers 102,499, and a case fatality rate of 3.2%. Russia declared total
15. confirmed cases 4,350,728, deaths 90v,958, with a case fatality rate of
2.10%.
Country Confirmed Deaths Case-Fatality Deaths/100k pop.
Similarly, France indicated actual confirmed cases of 4,132,104,
United States 29,495,424 535,628 1.80% 163.72 with a death toll of 90,924 and a case fatality ratio of 2.20%. Germany
Brazil 11,519,609 279,286 2.40% 133.33 declared a total number of 2,585,385 COVID-19 positive patients of the
Mexico 2,167,729 194,944 9.00% 154.48
COVID-19, with a death toll of 73,701 and a case fatality rate of 2.90%,
India 11,409,831 158,856 1.40% 11.74
United Kingdom 4,276,840 125,817 2.90% 189.23 correspondingly. France declared total confirmed cases 4,132,104, with
Italy 3,238,394 102,499 3.20% 169.61 a death toll of 90,924 and a case fatality rate of 2.90%. Italy reported
Russia 4,350,728 90,958 2.10% 62.96 a total number of infected confirmed patients, 3,238,394, with a death
France 4,132,104 90,924 2.20% 135.73
toll of 102,499 and a case fatality rate of 3.20%. See Table 6.
Germany 2,585,385 73,701 2.90% 88.87
Spain 3,195,062 72,424 2.30% 155
Fig. 6 specified that Brazil has controlled the spread to some extent
Iran 1,754,933 61,330 3.50% 74.98 and indicated a decreasing tendency in daily new cases on a 7-day av-
Colombia 2,305,884 61,243 2.70% 123.35 erage, as of March 15, 2021. The US is also successful in lowering the
Argentina 2,201,886 53,836 2.40% 120.99 daily new cases since January 2021. Similarly, there was a decline in
South Africa 1,530,033 51,421 3.40% 89
Russia for daily new cases burden since the first week of March 2021.
Peru 1,412,406 49,003 3.50% 153.19
Poland 1,917,527 47,206 2.50% 124.3 However, Germany has recorded a trend in daily new patients. Italy
Indonesia 1,425,044 38,573 2.70% 14.41 has also encountered a rise in new cases since February 2021. Glob-
Ukraine 1,516,865 29,969 2.00% 67.16 ally, several countries have met a second and third wave of the cur-
Turkey 2,894,893 29,552 1.00% 35.9
rent COVID-19 outbreak. Europe region is affected and became a new
Czechia 1,402,420 23,379 1.70% 220.02
Belgium 809,861 22,545 2.80% 197.38
epicenter. There were approximately 38 million COVID-19 cases. The
Canada 918,406 22,484 2.40% 60.67 hardest-hit of the COVID-19 impacts posed extensive disruptions to the
Chile 896,231 21,772 2.40% 116.25 service sector, including the tourism and leisure industry that make up
Romania 862,681 21,565 2.50% 110.74 a significant contributor to the GDP of the global economy. Argentina
Hungary 524,196 17,083 3.30% 174.87
reported a total number of infected confirmed cases 2,201,886, a death
Portugal 814,513 16,694 2.00% 162.37
Ecuador 302,498 16,240 5.40% 95.06 toll of 53,836, and a case fatality rate of 2.40%. Fig. 6 reflects the trend
Netherlands 1,178,501 16,218 1.40% 94.12 of the COVID-19 positive cases in different countries, including Italy and
Iraq 763,085 13,788 1.80% 35.87 France, from March 01, 2020, to March 15, 2021. Spain declared total
Pakistan 609,964 13,595 2.20% 6.41 confirmed cases 3,195,062, with a death toll of 72,424 and a case fa-
Source: John Hopkins University CSSE COVID-19 Data tality rate of 2.90%. Likewise, Iran reported a total number of infected
confirmed cases 1,754,933, a death toll of 61,330, and a case fatality

6
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033

Fig. 6. COVID-19 positive cases in Brazil, U.S.A., Germany, and Italy as of March 15, 2021.
Source: John Hopkins University CSSE COVID-19 Data

rate of 3.50%. Colombia declared 2,305,884 cases of the COVID-19, to- (CFR=24%) as of March 15, 2021, and reported 2,908 infected cases, a
tal deaths 61,243, and a case fatality rate of 2.70%. death toll of 698, and deaths per 100K population is 2.45.
The pandemic’s appearance is still sweeping the world, and numer-
ous regions and states have closed borders with all kinds of travel
5. Social stigma in the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health
restrictions to combat the virus transmission (Jimenez et al., 2020).
issues
When a transmittable virus infection waves appearance, again and
again, it causes a significant decline in mobility and global tourism
The World Health Organization described that social stigma deter-
(Richter, 2016). International tourists and air passengers spread the pan-
mines a negative linkage between persons or groups who share spe-
demic virus and exacerbate public health and economic crisis worldwide
cific features and particular diseases (Tang et al., 2021; Aleta et al.,
(Hilsenrath, 2020; Hall et al., 2020).
2020; Škare et al., 2021). It explains that communities are labeled,
Table 3 indicated that Yemen is highly affected in terms of the case-
discriminated and treated in particular ways because people consider
fatality ratio (CFR=24%) as of March 15, 2021. Yemen reported 2,908
them transmitters of infectious disease and pandemic (Hao et al., 2020;
cases, a death toll of 698, and deaths per 100K population is 2.45.
Saqib et al., 2020; Sharifpour et al., 2014). This behavior can lead to
Mexico has declared the second-highest case-fatality ratio (CFR= 9%).
negative social behaviors and affect people, family members, relatives,
There were 2,167,729 infected patients with a death toll of 194,944,
friends, and patients’ caregivers (D’Amico et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020;
and per 100K population, deaths are 154.48. Similarly, Syria has shown
Wong et al., 2021; Sahoo et al., 2020; Őri et al., 2021). Individuals
a case-fatality rate (CFR= 6.70%); total reported cases were 16,556,
with infections but have other features can also suffer social stigma-
deaths 1,104, and deaths toll per 100K population was 6.53. Sudan
tization in the community (Zheng et al., 2021; Crespí-Cladera et al.,
reported case-fatality ratio (CFR = 6.30%), total positive cases 30,973,
2021; Piccinelli et al., 2021; Zenker and Kock, 2020). The appearance
total deaths 1959, and deaths toll per 100K population was 4.69. See
of the pandemic COVID-19 is leading social stigma in some societies
Table 3. Table 3 specifies COVID-19 cases and mortality (Case-Fatality
worldwide (Farzanegan et al., 2020; Lynch et al., 2021; Chopra and
Ratio) declared by the most affected countries as of March 15, 2021.
Arora, 2020). People of various socio-economic backgrounds, religious
Table 3 indicated that Yemen has shown the highest case-fatality ratio
and racial identification have caused some problems to chinses peo-

7
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033

Table 3 and tangible and flexible technical concepts. Technological innovation

COVID-19: Cases and mortality (Case-Fatality Ratio) by the most affected coun- requires changes in e-tourism work, including history, reflection, open-
tries. ness, equality, diversity, and innovation (Gretzel et al., 2020).
Country Confirmed Deaths Case-Fatality Deaths/100k pop. Travel research scholars propose that e-tourism can transform
tourism’s future by rendering measurable and versatile value structures,
Yemen 2908 698 24.00% 2.45
Mexico 2,167,729 194,944 9.00% 154.48
structural definitions, theoretical trends, and tangible and flexible tech-
Syria 16,556 1,104 6.70% 6.53 nical conceptions (Ma et al., 2021). Scientific-technological innovation
Sudan 30,873 1959 6.30% 4.69 requires changes in e-tourism work, consisting of historical, reflectivity,
Egypt 191,555 11,340 5.90% 11.52 openness, equality, diversity, and innovation. Investigation to promote
Ecuador 302,498 16,240 5.40% 95.06
the tourism sector, numerous researchers have recommended modify-
China 101,421 4839 4.80% 0.35
Bolivia 260,059 11,974 4.60% 105.47 ing interdisciplinary (Wen et al., 2020), multi-disciplinary (Hall et al.,
Afghanistan 55,985 2,459 4.40% 6.62 2020), and anti-disciplinary study (Sigala, 2018) to create innovatively
Bolivia 260,059 11,974 4.60% 105.47 and flexible planning that questions and moves beyond established pre-
Afghanistan 55,985 2459 4.40% 6.62
assumptions and attitudes. Crisis management determines the primary
Liberia 2030 85 4.20% 1.76
Bulgaria 283,194 11,472 4.10% 163.32
application process before, during, or after a crisis. Observing the im-
Zimbabwe 36,504 1,504 4.10% 10.42 pact and consequences of COVID-19 can include the following signifi-
Somalia 9328 379 4.10% 2.53 cant stakeholders: demand for tourism, tourism resources, tourism or-
Mali 8933 363 4.10% 1.9 ganizations, and government leaders (Sigala, 2018). These three parties
Tanzania 509 21 4.10% 0.04
can demonstrate outbreak response, regeneration, and restart cycles to
Comoros 3646 146 4.00% 17.54
Bosnia and Herz. 144,831 5584 3.90% 167.99 integrate the COVID-19 post-transition phase. For tourism research to be
Eswatini 17,239 663 3.80% 58.35 successful and innovative, COVID-19 tourism research does not have to
Niger 4865 182 3.70% 0.81 solve the problem at the last point. If this point repeatedly studies "cur-
Guatemala 183,014 6578 3.60% 38.14
rent" issues and relationships but incorporates many "modern" meth-
Chad 4328 155 3.60% 1
Peru 1,412,406 49,003 3.50% 153.19
ods into the research structure through modern conceptual views and
Iran 1,754,933 61,330 3.50% 74.98 analysis, it may be equally innovative. Such measures can significantly
Tunisia 242,124 8404 3.50% 72.67 reveal unresolved problems and complexity, have more critical descrip-
South Africa 1,530,033 51,421 3.40% 89 tive ability and interpretation of ideas and relationships, and identify
Hungary 524,196 17,083 3.30% 174.87
and evaluate the "preparation" for innovation and change (Kim and
Malawi 32,864 1084 3.30% 5.97
Italy 3,238,394 102,499 3.20% 169.61 Lee, 2020; Su et al., 2021).

Source: John Hopkins University CSSE COVID-19 Data. Note: ∗ Bosnia and Herze-
6. Conclusions
govina.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reflected social, psychological and

ple with increasing discrimination (Turner-Musa et al., 2020; Singh and
Subedi, 2020; Adja et al., 2020). This behavior has also affected tourists’
minds from the Chinese community (Duan et al., 2020; Ferree et al.,
2021; Mejia et al., 2021; Ransing et al., 2020). The pandemic has also
affected marital life, and numerous studies have reported domestic vio-
lence issues globally (Abbas et al., 2020; Piquero et al., 2021; Gulati and
Kelly, 2020; Noman et al., 2021). Religiosity levels among people have
helped to maintain marital satisfaction (Aman et al., 2019; Khoo et al.,
2021). The coronavirus infection disease is dangerous to elderly di-
abetic patients (Moradi et al., 2020). Women with mental health is-
sues face severe stress due to the emergence of the deadliest disease
(Yoosefi Lebni et al., 2020; Azhar et al., 2018; Perzow et al., 2021;
Silverio-Murillo et al., 2021; Buckley and Westaway, 2020).
The present pandemic has caused numerous health issues, which re-
sulted in the burden on healthcare systems worldwide (Le and Phi, 2021;
Karl et al., 2020; Scott and Laws, 2008). The prevailing global health
crisis has affected global communities’ livelihood, and destinations are
without tourists (Ritchie, 2008; Blake and Sinclair, 2003; Wang, 2009).
The lethal virus outbreak has caused numerous problems for interna-
tional societies. Researchers of the travel and tourism industry have
started to rethink and reshape revival strategies to bring back the fol-
lowing normal economic activities (Kuo et al., 2008; Cró and Mar-
tins, 2017; Aliperti et al., 2019). Accordingly, the COVID-19 tourism
impacts and related research will increase awareness by educating the
masses, nurturing, reshaping, and handling such an economic crisis by
implanting innovation and change to revive the industry. Quite the re-
verse, the global economy will suffer, and the travel industry can show
losses (Sigala, 2020). Responding to the increasing research enthusi-
asm related to studies of COVID-19 tourism impacts requires innovative
research studies based on e-tourism. Thus, e-tourism can change the
travel and tourism industry’s future by providing measurable and mul-
tifunctional value structures, structural definitions, theoretical trends,
socio-economic, and cultural influences on various tourism stakehold-
ers, and they will suffer from the adverse effects for a longer time. The
pandemic has provided an ’abundant” new framework in which tourism
scholars and researchers can conduct studies with applicable research
models. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 tourism impacts surveys need to
ignore or drop the previous methods to execute the tourism and travel
industry (Michael Hall, 2011). Simultaneously, researchers need to im-
plement feasibility studies, tourism demand forecasting, and active and
best practices that would be beneficial and appropriate to explore the
COVID-19 consequences on various geographic organizations and stake-
holders. They theoretically provide minimal space for advancing the
understanding of crisis management and potentiating the pandemic’s
ability to restart investigation areas and enhance the role and bound-
aries of tourism science and industry. The purpose of the present work
is to encourage researchers to interpret and utilize the COVID-19 as a
transformative power to reshape and redesign their research methods
based on novel thinking for tourism development and research. Hence,
it aims to rebuild the strategies and objectives to motivate and assess
the intent, function, and effect of tourism organizations’ tourism stud-
ies. Crises also stimulate the development and shift of new technolo-
gies (Colombo et al., 2016; Zeng et al., 2020). Indeed these are not to
be treated as unavoidable, un-challengeable and challenging to re-form
and re-calibrate to meet specific needs and concrete standards. Scientists
have a responsibility to be convinced that COVID-19 tourism studies can
guarantee the last consequences.
The current narrative study in the context of the COVID-19 tourism
impacts attempts to involve all participants in the same community
of travel stakeholders, and it may not be consistent. For instance, the
COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on tourism organizations
(including intermediaries, transportation planners, and accommodation
or attraction providers) based on attributes such as the size, venue, man-
agement, and governance types of the tourism industry. Similarly, the
travel needs that are very different from leisure and business travel, lo-

8
J. Abbas, R. Mubeen, P.T. Iorember et al.
cal and individual tourists show that the various consequences of the
COVID-19 are expected and are critical for discussion in specific market
sectors. Tourism research in COVID-19 can reveal different distinguish-
able forces of the pandemic. They can also include advanced predictive
capabilities, because of such differences in the context, to predict or
test any specific recommendations on identifying any discrepancies and
weaknesses that may arise in different tourism stakeholder groups. Spe-
cific major tourism stakeholders, including tourism workers, residents,
entrepreneurs in the tourism field, and tourism education such as uni-
versity staff, students, and scholars, are not included in the analysis. The
latest cases and issues related to COVID-19 have further worsened travel
stakeholders’ travel business and working conditions, making their sit-
uation more complicated. Investigations in the field of COVID-19 and
tourism stakeholder behavior are critical.
Small commercial hoteliers are at risk of losing their property
assets because they cannot receive "accommodation charges" to pay
their mortgage as COVID-19 is expected to maintain and strengthen
current concepts and models, this "root" of tourism work. All this
comes from the ongoing recession and rising costs for travel com-
panies. The COVID-19 tourism research requires a careful study of
workers’ mental, physical, and psychological conditions with a COVID-
19 background, such as health, participation, virtual work environ-
ment, and other human resources. For instance, during isolation time
of the COVID-19, virtual teams and jobs, regular governance, recruit-
ment, leadership, and promotion opportunities fail to encourage, mo-
tivate, and retain employees who have re-changed their values and
principles.
The COVID-19 tourism impacts on employment have put more pres-
sure on tourism education. It has seriously affected job creation oppor-
tunities worldwide. Due to virtual learning and teaching, students also
have to deal with training interruptions, recruitment, and unstable em-
ployment opportunities in the tourism business. Tourism programs, ini-
tiatives, and academic universities face the challenge of reducing new
student enrollment, marketing and government support, and research
funding. Tourism scholars should consider innovative approaches and
research opportunities to determine organizational distance, taking into
account the mental health and privacy issues of stakeholders affected
by COVID-19. Similarly, teaching aspects must be explored, such as
the planning and implementing more "sustainable," flexible, and flex-
ible methods of tourism teaching and the development of students with
transferable and practical skills in other business sectors.
Besides, other specialized subjects in the field of COVID-19 are worth
investigating. Social entrepreneurship over the past decade increased
due to tourism, such as during the 2008 economic crisis. The COVID-
19 facilitates these tourism social projects, aiming to build social im-
pact, address the social problems arising from COVID-19, and help
those in need. The rapid expansion of relevant social tourism enter-
prises in COVID-19 provides several opportunities to practice and ac-
curately understand this concept in new biodiversity, stakeholders, and
conditions.
From now on, the bet should not be on the increase in visitor num-
bers but on "better, more comfortable travel, personalized service, while
maintaining affordable prices." The tourism industry should consider
starting renovations of hotels, improving staff quality, simplifying the
sale of tour groups and customer registration, and moving to digital tech-
nology. Particular attention should be paid to family entertainment: spe-
cial programs for children and adolescents, the development of appro-
priate menus, entertainment systems, etc. Future pandemics are likely
to recover fully, so tourism must first provide high-quality sanitation
measures. For example, all hotels may require protective masks and
gloves for employees, visitors, and disinfectants. To avoid overcrowd-
ing, restaurants should serve their customers in shifts. The beach can
be divided into blocks separated from each other to maintain social
distance. Besides, scientists, the Government, and the tourism indus-
try should agree and hold the latest tourism sector discussions to better
tourism. Travel companies and their partners in each region can recently
9
Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 2 (2021) 100033
start using their time to make their proposals more sustainable, if finan-
cially possible. The time has come to reposition the tourism industry and
change the tourism products. There is a need to review the measures and
prevent abandonment, at least in part after the coronavirus pandemic
from mass tourism, which we previously knew. Specifically, among the
comprehensive measures for tourism development in the COVID-19 pan-
demic, the study recommends that the Government develop a significant
initiative with specific proposals to improve tourism.
Funding
We have not received any funding to execute this research study, the
rigorous procedure of collecting data, and other associated processes to
conduct this study.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors are well informed and declared no competing interests.
Data and Code availability statement
Data is available at the request from the corresponding author.
Acknowledgments
Authors are thankful for professional EDITAGE editing language ser-
vices to ensure that English grammar is errors free for this manuscript.
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